Marked for Lucas Comachi
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market8 May 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AEL they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad8 May 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Stevan Jovetić commits to AEL for another 2 years.
Squad8 May 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AEL this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 May 2028
Lucas Comachi wants one last season at home
Every long career reaches the week the last one is thought about. He would like it to be where he started, and AEL know now that the thought has arrived.
The dugout8 May 2028
Rémi Oudin has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at AEL will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Market8 May 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Daniil Paroutis’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 Apr 2028
Fernando Forestieri falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad24 Apr 2028
A falling-out at AEL
Miljan Škrbić and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 Apr 2028
53 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad24 Apr 2028
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; AEL are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
Sérgio Conceição has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at AEL will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market24 Apr 2028
The name of Fernando Forestieri keeps appearing in other people's back pages. AEL say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
Miljan Škrbić knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at AEL, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at AEL. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
In brief
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Boardroom
The AEL academy earns its keep
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Match
A season winding down at AEL
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Feb 2028
A row about effort at AEL
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fernando Forestieri was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad21 Feb 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AEL this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match19 Feb 2028
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings21 Feb 2028
Ninety minutes of Daniil Paroutis at his very best
Marked 8.18. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at AEL.
Squad21 Feb 2028
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; AEL are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Pieros Papoulis after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
Rémi Oudin gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Rémi Oudin is on it.
Looking ahead21 Feb 2028
A test against the best for AEL
The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Aris.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market10 Jan 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AEL can pretend not to have heard.
Market10 Jan 2028
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around AEL people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Match8 Jan 2028
6 matches without a win for AEL
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around AEL are no longer polite ones.
Squad10 Jan 2028
A row about effort at AEL
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fernando Forestieri was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout10 Jan 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Everybody at AEL saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 34 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Squad10 Jan 2028
A falling-out at AEL
Constantinos Merkis and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout10 Jan 2028
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Pieros Papoulis after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
In brief
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The dugout
Yannick Gomis back under a manager who knows him
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The dugout
Sérgio Conceição has become a man the manager trusts
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Boardroom
The numbers do not look good at AEL
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market3 Jan 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AEL can pretend not to have heard.
Squad3 Jan 2028
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. AEL will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Player ratings3 Jan 2028
At 38 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.04, and nobody on the pitch better.
The dugout3 Jan 2028
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Match1 Jan 2028
5 matches without a win for AEL
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around AEL are no longer polite ones.
Match1 Jan 2028
A bad afternoon for AEL against Omonoia
1‑3 to Omonoia, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Words exchanged at AEL
Miljan Škrbić and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Boardroom3 Jan 2028
151% of the income goes out in wages at AEL
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Market3 Jan 2028
The name of Andreas Keravnos has come up in conversations AEL were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad25 Oct 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AEL this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Almir Sóta gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Almir Sóta has just signed for AEL, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Fernando Forestieri falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match23 Oct 2027
It finished 2‑0, and it was Stevan Jovetić’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to AEL.
Player ratings25 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings25 Oct 2027
Marked 7.92. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
Yannick Gomis back under a manager who knows him
The new man at AEL has worked with Yannick Gomis before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
Squad25 Oct 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Lucas Comachi and AEL agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Pieros Papoulis could afford to be generous.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market16 Aug 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Kavala people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market16 Aug 2027
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” PAEEK had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Market16 Aug 2027
Kavala say no — this time
The offer from Iraklis Gerolakkou for Alessandro Rovetini was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Squad16 Aug 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Kavala can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Tempers go at Kavala
Aarón Rey was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Boardroom16 Aug 2027
Kavala counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Kavala now.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Juan Bauzá falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Market16 Aug 2027
Christos Rovas has left for Egaleo in a $31.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Transfer targets16 Aug 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. PAOK have kept their man, and Kavala go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad9 Aug 2027
A fracture rules Markos Sifneos out for 119 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kavala will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market9 Aug 2027
Kavala say no — this time
The offer from Volos NPS for João Santos was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Market9 Aug 2027
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Markos Sifneos had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Kavala
Aarón Rey and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Juan Bauzá falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of Amine Karraoui
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Kavala can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market28 Jun 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Aarón Rey in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kavala this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Jun 2027
A row about effort at Kavala
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Amine Karraoui was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Everybody at Kavala saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 34 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
Panathinaikos have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
Kavala have made the call to Omonoia Aradippou. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
The manager makes an example of Rakip Bregu
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad28 Jun 2027
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Kavala will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Jun 2027
A fracture rules Lucas Comachi out for 20 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kavala will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market21 Jun 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Kavala, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market21 Jun 2027
Kavala say no — this time
The offer from Atromitos for Markos Sifneos was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
The deal with Iraklis is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Tempers go at Kavala
Aarón Rey was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words at Kavala training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alagy Oliveira is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad21 Jun 2027
5 new faces, and Kavala are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Boardroom21 Jun 2027
Belts tighten at Kavala
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Jun 2027
Lucas Comachi breaks a bone — 27 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 27 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market14 Jun 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Kavala, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market14 Jun 2027
The paperwork is done: Juan Bauzá joins from Levadiakos in a deal worth $410.0K. Now comes the harder part.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
$540.0K was the most the club would pay and Panetolikos were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words exchanged at Kavala
Aarón Rey and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The terraces14 Jun 2027
$410.0K for Juan Bauzá, and Kavala supporters approve
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Juan Bauzá from Levadiakos for $410.0K, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
Squad14 Jun 2027
A row about effort at Kavala
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Amine Karraoui was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
Kavala asked and Panserraikos said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market14 Jun 2027
The phone has started ringing about Markos Sifneos again, and this time the name on the line is Atromitos. Kavala are listening politely and promising nothing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces7 Jun 2027
Anger at Kavala spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Match7 Jun 2027
Every point is an argument now for Kavala
Position 10 and 15 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Kavala
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Kavala is running low.
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Kavala can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Squad7 Jun 2027
36 days out for Lucas Comachi after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Kavala will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market7 Jun 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Kavala, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 Jun 2027
A falling-out at Kavala
Aarón Rey and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at Kavala training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Amine Karraoui is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad31 May 2027
A fracture rules Lucas Comachi out for 43 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kavala will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad31 May 2027
Aarón Rey in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kavala this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 May 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Kavala can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad31 May 2027
Alagy Oliveira falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Market31 May 2027
A loan that did nothing for Lucas Comachi
1 appearances and 0 goals is not a season away, it is a year lost. He is back at Kavala no further forward, and everybody involved will explain why it was not their fault.
The dugout31 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vasilis Gavriilidis, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad24 May 2027
A fracture rules Lucas Comachi out for 50 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Panionios will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad24 May 2027
Javi Pérez honoured for the season
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Panionios had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
Squad24 May 2027
A row about effort at Panionios
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joaquín was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad24 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Panionios this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout24 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Fotis Sgouris, and the manager let it.
Market24 May 2027
The David Astals talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Panionios know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad17 May 2027
Lucas Comachi breaks a bone — 57 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 57 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad17 May 2027
Manolis Saliakas was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at Panionios training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Astals is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout17 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Spyros Venardos
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Market17 May 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Joaquín’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout17 May 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Giorgos Saramantas is on it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad10 May 2027
Lucas Comachi breaks a bone — 67 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 67 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market10 May 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Panionios is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad10 May 2027
David Astals falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad10 May 2027
Anthony Belmonte was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Market10 May 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Panionios know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout10 May 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kavala this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Kavala training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Amine Karraoui is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout3 May 2027
Amine Karraoui knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Kavala, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad3 May 2027
Lucas Comachi breaks a bone — 75 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 75 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match3 May 2027
Panionios refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 39 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Squad3 May 2027
Joaquín falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Market3 May 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Panionios, another week without a signature from Javi Pérez.
Squad3 May 2027
Giorgos Saramantas and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom3 May 2027
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Panionios now.
Market3 May 2027
Javi Pérez linked with a move away
The name of Javi Pérez keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Panionios say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout3 May 2027
Nikos Peios has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Panionios will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout3 May 2027
Jorge Díaz knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jorge Díaz trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad26 Apr 2027
18 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Panionios lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad26 Apr 2027
A fracture rules Lucas Comachi out for 83 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Panionios will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Javi Pérez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Joaquín falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Market26 Apr 2027
The David Astals talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Panionios know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Vasilis Tsergas is on it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad19 Apr 2027
26 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Panionios lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad19 Apr 2027
91 days out for Lucas Comachi after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Panionios will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Javi Pérez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad19 Apr 2027
David Astals falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
Karol Świderski asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Spyros Venardos
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Market19 Apr 2027
The Joaquín talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Panionios know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Market19 Apr 2027
2 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Panionios money.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad12 Apr 2027
33 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Panionios lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad12 Apr 2027
A fracture rules Lucas Comachi out for 99 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Panionios will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
Karol Świderski: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Panionios have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market12 Apr 2027
Only the photograph left for Ioan Yakovlev
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ioan Yakovlev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Panionios the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Javi Pérez in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Panionios this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Panionios
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joaquín was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Apr 2027
A falling-out at Kavala
Aarón Rey and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Apr 2027
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Kavala know it.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Kavala training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Amine Karraoui is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Market5 Apr 2027
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Loan watch5 Apr 2027
“I watch every Kavala game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Kustosija runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Kavala are still strangers to each other
6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad5 Apr 2027
Lucas Comachi breaks a bone — 106 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 106 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match5 Apr 2027
Panionios are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 39 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Alexandros Tzamalis is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad5 Apr 2027
A muscle injury and 14 days out for Felipe Felício
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Panionios will quote 14 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Joaquín falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Boardroom5 Apr 2027
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Panionios now.
Market5 Apr 2027
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dimitris Tsantilas, and the manager let it.
Market5 Apr 2027
The Javi Pérez story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Javi Pérez signs something — a contract at Panionios or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad29 Mar 2027
A fracture rules Lucas Comachi out for 115 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Panionios will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Manolis Saliakas was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad29 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Panionios
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Astals was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Everybody at Panionios saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 37 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market29 Mar 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with David Astals’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad22 Mar 2027
Lucas Comachi breaks a bone — 123 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 123 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Panionios training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joaquín is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 36 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Panionios is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Squad22 Mar 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Panionios this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market22 Mar 2027
The Joaquín talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Panionios know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
Nobody at Panionios will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
Jorge Díaz knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jorge Díaz trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Panionios. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Market22 Mar 2027
The clock does Ioan Yakovlev’s negotiating for him
3 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Panionios could ask drops and the wages Ioan Yakovlev can ask rise.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad15 Mar 2027
Lucas Comachi breaks a bone — 133 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 133 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market15 Mar 2027
Ioan Yakovlev has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Panionios they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Joaquín falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad15 Mar 2027
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Panionios know it.
Squad15 Mar 2027
At 35, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
Market15 Mar 2027
Ioan Yakovlev is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Panionios has been clear about where Ioan Yakovlev stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Spyros Venardos
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Market15 Mar 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Rodrigo Ramos’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad8 Mar 2027
140 days out for Lucas Comachi after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Panionios will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match8 Mar 2027
39 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Joaquín signs a new deal
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Joaquín commits to Panionios for another 3 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Javi Pérez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Panionios
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Astals was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market8 Mar 2027
The Javi Pérez story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Javi Pérez signs something — a contract at Panionios or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad1 Mar 2027
147 days out for Lucas Comachi after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Panionios will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Panionios
Javi Pérez and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Panionios
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joaquín was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad1 Mar 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Panionios can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Market1 Mar 2027
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Ulrich Fokam
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match11 Jan 2027
Panionios refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 36 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Market11 Jan 2027
Panionios spend $5.3M to raise the standard
This is not cover and nobody is pretending it is. $5.3M has been paid because Karol Świderski is straightforwardly better than what was already here, and the club has decided to stop waiting.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Marked 8.07 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Market11 Jan 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Panionios, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Everything agreed with Kavala, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Javi Pérez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces11 Jan 2027
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Karol Świderski from Panathinaikos for $5.3M, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
Market11 Jan 2027
The name of Alexandros Voilis has come up in conversations Panionios were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Panionios
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Astals was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match21 Dec 2026
Every point is an argument now for Kavala
Position 9 and 14 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
No sign of nerves from Thiago Romano at 20 — 7.74
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Thiago Romano did not need any: 7.74, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Market21 Dec 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Aarón Rey in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kavala this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Kavala
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Amine Karraoui was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Looking ahead21 Dec 2026
Two sides from the bottom of the table, three points, and an afternoon that will be described afterwards as a relegation decider by whoever loses it.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
The team sheet said everything about Amine Karraoui
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Amine Karraoui.
Match19 Dec 2026
Kavala caught on 89 minutes
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Asteras Tripolis B scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Kavala told Apostolos Stikas something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
No sign of nerves from Thiago Romano at 20 — 8.23
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Thiago Romano did not need any: 8.23, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Kavala
Aarón Rey was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Amine Karraoui falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match28 Nov 2026
It finished 2‑1, and it was Kostas Kotsopoulos’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Kavala.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Wages eat 196% of everything Kavala earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The terraces30 Nov 2026
He is 20 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Squad30 Nov 2026
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Kavala are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Andreas Kourbelis could afford to be generous.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Kavala may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Kavala
Aarón Rey and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 35 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Kavala is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Kavala know it.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Kavala are still strangers to each other
16 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Market12 Oct 2026
Experience through the door at Kavala
Volodymyr Tanchyk arrives at 35 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Looking ahead12 Oct 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Nestos Chrysoupoli in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Apostolos Stikas asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.